Pinochet-Era Soldier Confesses to Murder on Radio
By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
SANTIAGO, Chile — A former soldier from the days of the Pinochet dictatorship confessed to participating in at least 18 murders on a live radio show. Guillermo Reyes, going by the pseudonym “Alberto” called in to “Chacotero Sentimental” (Loving Betrayal), a radio show hosted by Roberto Artiagoitia, to talk about a failing romance. Instead, for twenty minutes, Reyes discussed his participation in the killings of Socialist Party prisoners.
According to Reyes, soldiers executed the prisoners by shooting them in the head, and then destroyed the victims’ remains with dynamite. In his call, Reyes expressed no remorse for his participation in the executions: “The first time (I killed someone), I cried but the lieutenant was saying, ‘Good soldier, good soldier, brave soldier.’ I liked the second time. I enjoyed it.”
Although he did not identify himself during the call, police were able to track the call back to Reyes. He was arrested and has so far been charged with killing Freddy Taberna Gallegos and German Palomino Lamas, both Socialist Party prisoners. Reyes is also being investigated by a human rights judge.
Reyes was drafted into Pinochet’s army as a young man and was then indoctrinated during military training in Santiago. He said he was “forced to kill” because commanders would execute conscripts for disobeying orders.
When challenged by radio host Artiagoitia about his moral conscience and “responsibilities as a human,” Reyes reiterated that he was following orders. “If we found them with a gun, we liquidated them.”
At the time of his call, Reyes was a 62-year old bus driver.
The Pinochet regime of 1973-1990 is considered one of the most violent periods of Chile’s history. Officially, 903 people were disappeared and 1,759 were executed. Chile has taken a number of steps in current months to recognize the victims and provide education regarding the human rights violations. Recently, President Michelle Bachelet created a Human Rights Department to implement policies to support Pinochet’s victims.
For more information, please see:
TeleSur – Chile Creates Human Rights Department for Pinochet Era Murders – 17 December 2015
USA Today – Radio caller confesses to 18 murders – 17 December 2015
Pepsi-Cola Workers Freed from Venezuela Plant
By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
CARACAS, Venezuela — Employees at a Venezuelan Pepsi-Cola plant in Caucagua, in the Miranda state were “arbitrarily detained,” according to Polar. Polar, Venezuela’s largest food and drink producer, owns the local Pepsi division. Government inspectors from the Ministry of Labour reportedly visited the plant on Friday and ordered production to restart. The manager, two human resource workers and a lawyer were arrested by police.
A tweet released by Polar late on Sunday said that, “Pepsi-Cola Venezuela managed to obtain full freedom for its Caucagua plant workers who were arbitrarily detained on Friday.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro frequently criticizes Polar and its CEO, Lorenzo Mendoza, of participating in an “Economic War” against the people. Days before the latest National Assembly election, Maduro referred to Mendoza as the “Oligarch of the devil.”
Pepsi, like a number of other products, have been in short supply in Venezuela in recent months. President Maduro accused Mendoza and Polar of purposely slowing down production and hoarding goods.
Mendoza and Polar say that production at the plant ceased due to the unavailability of necessary raw materials, which could not be imported due to Venezuelan currency controls. Maduro’s critics highlight that currency controls and price controls make it near impossible to import machinery and raw materials, or to profit from the production of consumer goods in Venezuela.
For more information, please see:
Reuters – Venezuela Food producer Polar says local Pepsi workers freed – 20 December 2015
BBC – Venezuela releases detained Pepsi workers – 21 December 2015
Curacao Chronical – Venezuela Food Company Slams Detention of Local Pepsi Workers – 21 December 2015
WCPW Volume 10, Issue 21 – December 28, 2015
War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. To subscribe, please email warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org and type “subscribe” in the subject line.
Opinions expressed in the articles herein represent the views of their authors and are not necessarily those of the War Crimes Prosecution Watch staff, the Case Western Reserve University School of Law or Public International Law & Policy Group.
Contents
Central African Republic & Uganda
Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Yahoo News: Ivory Coast delays trial for murder of military leader
- Yahoo News: Ousted Burkina leader Compaore charged in Sankara killing
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
- Naij.com: Cameroonian Soldiers Invade Nigerian Villages
- BBC News: Mass Graves for ‘300 Shia Nigerians’ in Zaria
- Al-Jazeera: One Million Forced From School By Boko Haram War
- Council on Foreign Relations: Warning of Kidnapping by Nigeria’s Boko Haram
Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, War Crimes Chamber
- Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Third-instance Verdict Handed Down in the Case v. Veselko Raguž et al.
- Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Indictment Confirmed in the Case v. Mehmed Sadiković
- Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Trial Verdict Revised in the Case v. Zaim Laličić
- Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Prohibiting Measures Ordered Upon Suspect Sakib Mahmuljin
- Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Gligor Begović Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison
- Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Radoman Fundup Acquitted of Charges
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
- Institute For War & Peace Reporting: Current Bosnian Serb Leader Denies Wartime Ethnic Cleansing Policy
- Jurist: ICTY Orders Retrial for 2 Serbs Acquitted of War Crimes
- inSerbia: Simatovic and Stanisic Plead Not Guilty in ICTY Retrial
- inSerbia: ICTY Grants Stanisic and Simatovic Provisional Release
Domestic Prosecutions In The Former Yugoslavia
- The Washington Post: Bosnian Serbs Stop Cooperating With State Over War Crimes
- Ynet News: Kosovo: Former Bosnian Police Commander Arrested in Srebrenica
- Balkan Transitional Justice: Bosnian Croat Fighter Jailed for Wartime Rape
- Balkan Transitional Justice: Serbian Security Chiefs’ Retrial ‘A Chance for Justice’
- Balkan Transitional Justice: Prosecutors ‘Failed to Prove’ Kosovo Serb Leader’s Guilt
- Balkan Transitional Justice: Croatian Policemen’s Grubori Massacre Acquittals Quashed
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
- The Cambodia Daily: Meas Muth Faces Charges Including Genocide
- The Cambodia Daily: Nuon Chea’s Lawyer Referred To Bar Over Behavior in Court
- The Washington Times: Assad Not Likely to Face War Crimes Charges as World Leaders Broker Syria Peace Deal
- CNBC: Amnesty Says Russian Strikes on Syria May Amount to War Crimes
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- NBC News: Maryland Man Provided Material Support to ISIS, Officials Say
- Business Insider: National Guard Member Pleads Guilty To Supporting ISIS And Planning An Attack
- Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Terrorist Mufid Elfgeeh Guilty Of Recruiting For ISIS
- International Business Times: Isis: UN Security Council Adopts Resolution Aimed At Disrupting Daesh’s Finances
- San Jose Inside: Fremont Man Indicted on Terrorism Charges
- FBI Philadelphia Division: Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz Indicted for Providing Material Support to ISIL
- AL: ISIS Conspiracy Trial Set For Mississippi State Grad, Homecoming Princess
- MSP News: Alleged ISIS Conspirator Said To Have Bragged About Ability To Take Down MSP Planes
Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal
- Hindustan Times: Bangladesh Fumes as Pakistan Denies Genocide, War Crimes in 1971
- BDNews24: Bangladesh Committee to Conduct ‘Symbolic Trials’ of 195 Pakistan Army Men
- BDNews24: BNP Chief Khaleda Doubts Number of Bangladesh War Martyrs
- The Maritime Executive: Armament on the High Seas
- The Maritime Executive: Iranian Navy Rescues Tanker From Pirates
- Hellenic Shipping News: Navy’s Ops Force Gulf of Aden Pirates to Shift Base
- UN News Centre: Despite Progressive Laws, Gender-based Violence ‘Pervasive’ in South Africa, UN Expert Warns
- Time: A Yezidi Woman Who Escaped ISIS Slavery Tells Her Story
- NBC News: Boko Haram Violence Forces One Million Children Out of School: U.N.
- The Telegraph: Zambia’s New Ambassador Against Gender Violence Was Convicted of Rape
- UN News Centre: South Sudan: More UN Peacekeepers to be Sent in to Protect Civilians Amid Ceasefire Violations
- The Jurist: UN Security Council Adopts Peace Resolution for Syria
- Arutz Sheva: UN Renews Resolution on Humanitarian Aid to Syria
- Barbara Miltner: The Mediterranean Migration Crisis: A Clash of the Titans’ Obligations?
- A.D. Murray: LSE Law Department Briefings on the Investigatory Powers Bill – Comparing Surveillance Powers: UK, US and France
- Beth Van Schaack: Crimes Against Humanity: Repairing Title 18’s Blind Spots
- Leila N. Sadat & Benjamin Cohen: Impunity Through Immunity: The Kenya Situation and the International Criminal Court
Shenzhen Landslide Caused by Breach of Industrial Safety Regulations
By Christine Khamis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
BEIJING, China –
Local authorities in Shenzhen have released a statement stating that the deadly landslide last week was caused by breaches in construction safety rules and was not a natural disaster. Shenzhen authorities have vowed to punish those accountable for the landslide in accordance with the law.
The central government in Shenzhen organized an investigation team to look into the causes of the landslide. The team found that the cause of the landslide was the movement of construction waste in a landfill site rather than geological movement. Xinhua, China’s state run news source, has reported that the industrial site where the landslide occurred continued to take waste for 10 months after it was supposed to stop accepting all waste. Officials also ignored warnings that the site was dangerous.
According to local news sources, the landslide killed at least seven people, with several others in serious condition in local hospitals and over 70 people still missing. The disaster also buried 33 buildings in the industrial site where the construction waste was dumped.
Currently, there is still a risk of additional landslides in three other places in the Shenzhen industrial park according to Xinhua. Yang Shengjun, head of the Shenzhen Housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau, says that there are also dangerous chemicals that need to be dealt with.
Ma Xingrui, the Communist Party Chief of Shenzhen, has made a formal apology and has pledged to accept responsibility for the landslide. Officials are often dismissed after disasters in China, with others facing prosecution for their responsibility for such disasters. Now that it is apparent that the landslide was due to human error, it is even more likely that Shenzhen officials and others found to have contributed to the disaster will carry the blame.
Parts of Asia, including China, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are particularly prone to landslides due to their dense populations and rapid growth of urban centers. The Shenzhen landslide has raised concerns about China’s industrial safety regulations and the lack of oversight that may have contributed to other similar disasters. An extensive amount of infrastructure has been built up in recent years to meet the growth of industrial hubs and cities in China. That infrastructure, if not built according to safety regulations, could pose a serious threat of future disasters.
For more information, please see:
CNN – China Says Landslide Caused by Safety Violations, Vows to Punish ‘Seriously’ – 26 December 2015
The International Business Times – China Shenzhen Landslide Caused by Safety Violations, Not Nature, Officials Say – 25 December 2015
The New York Times – Chinese Official Vows Punishment Over Shenzhen Landslide – 25 December 2015
The Guardian – Is the Shenzhen Landslide the First of Many More? – 23 December 2015